Cooking is the purest act of love: Chef Massimo Bottura

On first impression, while chatting with Massimo Bottura, it might be very difficult to guess that you are interacting with one of the best chefs in the world. Wondering why? Well, it is because of his ease, generosity, kindness, and, above all, the way he makes you feel. This is the impression I left of the Leela Palace in New Delhi, where he was residing at the invitation of Culinary Culture to showcase the best from Osteria Francescana, his three-Michelin-star restaurant in Modena, Italy, for two days in the month of April.
The ever-energetic Massimo entered the lounge after planting trees and interacting with kids and said, I feel so rejuvenated after spending time with kids, and now I am all set for my dinner game tonight, which will showcase my iconic dishes such as 'Oops, I Dropped the Lemon Tart,' 'The Crunchy Part of the Lasagne,' and 'Psychedelic Cod Not Flame Grilled’ among others.

Massimo feels that food is a very subjective thing for every individual, but at the same time, there are certain things about food that are very universal. This blend of the two makes food as a subject challenging and interesting to play around with.

Growing up as a passionate kid who loved all things creative, Massimo drew love for cooking from his mother and grandmother, and through his mother, he understood that cooking is an act of love. He states, "When you love cooking, then your work slowly turns into passion, that is where you transfer emotions into the food, which helps connect with the soul of the eater." Till date, when he is in the kitchen, he prefers to act like a child who is excited about painting the canvas of plates with all things beautiful and amazing, and all of this comes to him from a place of creativity that draws inspiration from nature and the world at large as he keeps exploring new places.

Massimo, 61, feels that one has to always keep dreaming big to make it big in life and follow a disciplined lifestyle to make the goals a reality. For Massimo, his day starts on a slow note, where he avoids using his phone for the first hour of the day and enjoys his Mocha coffee. During the day, his diet mostly revolves around tasting dishes from one restaurant to another, but he assures that he is always hydrated, and that is what keeps him healthy. He adds, "And when I am home, I enjoy eating all primary ingredients mixed with good carbs, and it's satiating."
Massimo, who has a sensitive palate, loves the varieties of Indian curries, but he often adjusts them to his tolerance level. He affirms, "It is very much like you journalists modify questions as per the personalities you are interviewing, similarly, I modify the curries to my taste to make it a memorable experience.
On a concluding note, when asked about his favourite Indian dish that he would like to recreate in his style, he says, "It is one of the most tricky questions. I feel the beauty of any cuisine lies in its originality and I would let the aroma of Indian cuisines speak for them in their original form."